Tibet: Tibetan Youth Council on Indefinite Hunger Strike Day 6 and 7

Although the International Olympic Committee has failed to commit itself to the demands of the hunger strikers, pro-active campaigns of support and solidarity with the indefinite hunger strike have been growing with each passing day

Physicians mumbled inaudible words into each other’s
ears and exchanged reports as they warmly smiled to a relaxed Ven. Palden Gyatso
who along with his compatriots were into their seventh day without food and
nourishment. With each passing day, the Indefinite Hunger Strikers are losing
weight; eyes pushed back into the sockets yet the grace of patriotism and lofty
sacrifice glowing unto a halo like radiance conquering all the frailties of
existence.

As the TYC led Indefinite Hunger Strike at San Pietro In Vincoli,
Turin, Italy for ‘No Olympics in China Until Tibet is Free’ rallied
through its seventh day, the inner strength and spirit of the mission continued
to remain high with the determination and commitment shown by the three Hunger
Strikers led by Ven. Palden Gyatso.

Although the International Olympic Committee has failed to
commit itself to the demands of the Hunger Strikers in harmony with the charter
of the IOC, pro-active campaigns of support and solidarity with the Indefinite
Hunger Strike have been growing with each passing day. Various Tibet Support
Groups, individuals and Organizations expressed their concern and wishes in
person and through e-mails and phone calls to the three Hunger Strikers.

In a letter from the Tibetan Committee, Belgium, the scattered
population of Tibetans while expressing sadness in their incapability of making
the priced trip to the hunger strikers in Italy because of document restrictions
stated, “we fully support the hunger strikers and the Tibetan Youth Congress
which is the biggest and the most generally accepted Organization to express
the demands of the Tibetan Diaspora. Each and every Tibetan in Belgium is deeply
concerned by the courageous action of their compatriots in Italy.” Many
more mails and calls of encouragement and appreciation have been flowing in
from all over the world, demonstrating an integration and reinvigoration of
the Tibetan freedom struggle.

Supporters and sympathizers continued to inspire and at times
surprise the Hunger Strikers with their own special ways of showing solidarity.
Michela Dauru, a young girl who was visibly moved by the commitment of the three
Hunger Strikers, joined them for a daylong token hunger strike. While two other
supporters, Philifte Serpollet and Xavier Panget came all the way from France
with Tibetan National flags and placards declaring in Italian “No Olympic
in China until Tibet is Free”.

Being the victims of the same communist regime, the President
of the Falung Dafa Practitioner in Italy paid a personal visit to the Hunger
Strikers to express his tacit support and sympathy for the Tibetan freedom struggle.
It has been a major endeavor of the TYC to maintain a cordial relation and working
understanding with other minority groups such as the Falung Dafa and the Uighur
movement who share the same goal of freedom and respect for human rights in
China and Tibet.

For the past couple of days it has been snowing heavily in
Turin with temperatures dipping below the freezing point and dark clouds swelling
the winter sky. Huddled inside the TYC Indefinite Hunger Strike tent, these
few lines from Ven. Palden Gyatso la’s biography, ‘Fire Under the
Snow’, in true sense illustrates the ambience of the common space that
these three patriots share:

“In my prison, we used to sing, ‘one day the sun
will shine through the dark clouds’. The vision of the sun dispelling
the dark clouds and our unbroken spirits kept us alive. It was not only prisoners
who were resilient; so were ordinary men and women who lived their daily lives
in the shadow of the Chinese Communist Party. Even today, young boys and girls
who knew nothing of feudal Tibet and who are said to be the sons and daughters
of the Party are crying out for freedom. Our collective will to resist what
is unjust is like a fire that cannot be put out. Looking back, I can see that
man's love of freedom is like a smouldering fire under snow.”

The fire continues to burn passionately under the fresh snowfall
in Turin for the freedom of Tibet.